A/N: So sorry about the wait, but I am not gone like last time. Just writer's block, that's all. Anyway, enjoy the chapter and the fact that I don't own Harry Potter!

Chapter Rating: T

Chapter 5

Thwarted Painfully

That night, no one in Ravenclaw slept. They were all worried, some severely, as they had all seen Harry yesterday. Hermione and Ron had brought the news that Harry was poisoned, and immediately set about searching. They had asked for all of his symptoms, had decided which one of them would research what, and they had decided that Hermione would research poisons and venoms, while Ron would search through all of the spells and hexes known to wizardkind. Around 2am, Ron reached the end of the book, and ran out of leads. He joined Hermione, who was currently frantically looking through a big book. How to identify mushroom poisoning, both magical and muggle was its title. She reached page 231. Death Flower Mushrooms was the page she was looking at. The second-most deadly mushroom known to the world of wizards.

'Symptoms include: vomiting (check), a cold fever (check), cramps (check), and a unique feature, a multicolour rash, usually blue or green (Both). Hermione looked at Ron. Then she wondered where Ron was. He was on his way to the infirmary already. Hermione ran after him. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Peeves the ghost tripped them up. The mushroom was poisonous, and by the onset of symptoms, it had been administered at breakfast. Hermione looked at her watch. 02:17. They had 6 and ¾ hours or the effects would be irreversible. Hermione lost her rag at Peeves, but this was a clever ploy. If Hermione preoccupied Peeves the Poltergeist, then Ron could run ahead and tell Madame Pomfrey. Which is what he did. By 2:30, Professor Snape, potions master, had been summoned. It took one look at Harry and Snape was concerned. Immediately after Ron and Hermione had told him what to do, he darted away to the potions cupboard. He jumped in and grabbed 10 different ingredients. This potion, the anti-fungus potion, could take hours. Hours that Harry did not have.

"Add the crushed (or diced, said Snape's notes) Gillyweed and then chop (or grate) 1kg of Boomslang Skin into the mix." Snape recited. He read from his personal book, with all of the tips and tricks that he had learnt over the years. Sometimes, the official potion books weren't the best source of potion ingredients, and while the recipe in the book worked, his improved recipe was… well, improved. He stirred. 08:37. He had 23 minutes. It said he would need 15 (best 20) minutes to stir and then it would be ready. He was cutting it fine. Very fine. He stirred. He stirred. He stirred. He stared. He looked at the walls of the dungeons. Gosh, he wished that he knew who had done this. Little did he know that he was looking at the bed of the poisoner.

Hermione groaned. 07:32. She was groggy after having been up until 3am the previous night. She woke in Ravenclaw tower. Huh? She had fallen asleep at Harry's side. He had been deliriously mumbling her name. So how? She looked over at Ron. Fast asleep. Ah. That made sense. She groggily got up, and got changed. 07:49. Right. She had to be with Harry for if they couldn't find a cure, because Harry would want someone with him. Peeves lurked outside the door to the common room. Hermione was drenched by a water-balloon. Peeves then got hexed multiple times. Hermione simply ended her hexing spree by saying "Let's just say that if you were alive 10 minutes ago you wouldn't be now." followed by her calmly walking off.

Hermione arrived at the hospital ward soon after. Harry was deathly pale. His usually shiny hair had turned very greasy and dull, almost like all of the life had been sucked out of it. His skin, normally bright and faintly pink, was almost bone-white. The only colour on his skin was a blue-green rash, which seemed to be fanning out and consuming him whole. His eyes, although they were wide open, seemed dull and empty, devoid of the light and intrigue that usually filled them. He looked dead, but a shallow and pained rise-and-fall of his chest proved otherwise. Hermione found a tear on the floor. Followed by another. She was so in shock with the state that Harry was in that it took three tears for her to realise that she was crying. By this point, she had sat down, and Ron and Neville Longbottom, her friend from Gryffindor, had joined her. 08:45. 'Hurry up Professor Snape. Hurry up.' Was all that went through Hermione's mind as she looked anxiously down the corridor.

While 20 minutes of stirring was optimal, 15 was all the potion needed. So, at 8 to 9, Snape put a sample of the potion into a glass. No time for a bottle, no time for a stopper, no time for walking, no time for anything other than grabbing the potion and going. He ran past some giggling first-years. They simply stopped and looked worriedly in his direction. Suddenly, as he could see the hospital ward in sight, the staircase moved. He saw a third-year walking past the entrance to the hospital. Snape called to her, and then, after he had instructed her, he threw the potion and hoped for the best. The glass wobbled and landed in the student's hand. Snape barked at her to take the potion to Madam Pomfrey and tell her that the potion was the antidote from Snape. Pomfrey wasted no time. At 08:59, Harry was fed the potion. But was it too late?

Hermione anxiously waited. She was worried because it was now 09:10 and Harry hadn't shown any sign of improving. The first thing that was supposed to happen was that Harry would wake from his coma, which he certainly hadn't done. The clock ticked on, slower and slower, almost mocking Hermione in her worriedness. At 09:15, Pomfrey declared that it hadn't worked. Hermione turned to leave. She was crying openly now. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a little twitch. Then another. Then a brief blink. Then Harry opened his eyes for slightly longer; maybe 5 seconds. Harry suddenly groaned. Madame Pomfrey cast several spells and hexes. Harry was recovering. Hermione, Ron, Snape, Pomfrey, and a third-year Ravenclaw named Cho Chang had saved Harry!

After about a month, Harry was fit to leave. All in all, he had missed 35 days, including a mid-term exam. He was bummed out. On the bright side, he was alive. As he was discharged from hospital, he practically skipped into the Great Hall. He was so looking forward to the rest of the year, which passed in a blur of spells, hexes, charms, and a Great Goblin Rebellion in the year something or other. He was alive and well, and he was really enjoying quidditch. He won the house cup after an exhilarating game where Ravenclaw were 150-10 down, and then, out of nowhere, he saw the snitch. He dived, and caught it, winning the game, the quidditch cup, and the house cup. As the train pulled into Kings Cross that July, he reflected on the year. He hadn't had too bad a year, and it couldn't get worse, could it? Draco Malfoy looked across. He knew full well how bad it would get, and he briefly glanced at Potter. Their eyes met. They had a silent conversation before going their separate ways. Draco hadn't given away anything. So, if he could get rid of Potter, then maybe he could create a scenario where Potter would be in trouble and would be dealt with once and for all.